At one With the Waves

　　海水正蓝冲浪去

　　It's dawn on a quiet Hawaiian beach, and huge waves are rolling in. As the sun appears on the horizon,1 a few stoked surfers paddle out through the waves. For most people, cold, rough ocean is the last place they want to be at daybreak. But for surfers, this is heaven.

　　Surfing's ancient origins lie along the shores of Hawaii, which is still considered2 the sport's spiritual home. In the nineteenth century, long before surfing became popular elsewhere, Hawaiian chiefs were masters of the waves. They had their own private surf beaches, and rode waves on long, heavy wooden boards.

　　Born in 1890, Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku is one of the king kahunas of surfing folklore.3 During surfing demonstrations,4 he would often perform daring5 tricks, like standing on his head while surfing! Duke was an Olympic swimmer, a professional actor, and even a national hero. In 1925, he used his surfboard to power through rough waves and save eight people from an overturned6 boat.

　　黎明时分，在夏威夷某个宁静的海滩，巨浪一波波地卷向岸边。太阳刚从地平线升起，几个跃跃欲试的冲浪好手便涉浪划出。大多数人绝不会愿意在天刚破晓时跃入冰冷而又风大浪急的海中。但对于冲浪者来说，这里是他们的乐园。

　　冲浪运动最早发源于夏威夷海岸，这里至今仍被公认为这一运动的精神归宿。早在十九世纪，冲浪运动尚未风行其他地方之前，夏威夷的酋长就已个个是冲浪高手了。他们拥有自己的私人冲浪滩，并踩在又长又重的木板上驾驭海浪。

　　生于 1890 年的夏威夷人杜克·卡那莫库是民间传说中冲浪的佼佼者。当他示范冲浪动作时，经常会表演大胆过人的特技，例如倒立式冲浪！杜克是奥运游泳选手专业演员，甚至还是夏威夷民族英雄。1925 年，他曾踏着冲浪板奋力冲破惊涛骇浪，从一艘翻覆的船中救出八条人命。

　　Vocabulary

　　1. horizon n. the distant line where water or the earth appears to meet the sky 地平线

　　As we drove across the flat Texas plains, the city of Houston appeared on the horizon.

　　当我们开车穿越平坦的德州大草原时，休斯顿市出现在地平线的那一端。

　　● 2. consider v. to think of sb./sth. in a certain way 认为

　　The Mona Lisa is considered by many to be one of the finest paintings ever made.

　　《蒙娜丽莎的微笑》至今仍被公认为史上最美的画作之一。

　　3. folklore n. the body of traditional stories told in a certain community or area 民间传说

　　According to local folklore, this cave was once the hideout of a famous bank robber.

　　根据当地的传说，一名家喻户晓的银行抢匪曾经藏匿在此山洞中。

　　● 4. demonstration n. an action designed to show sb. how to do sth. 示范；表演

　　During his demonstration, master woodcarver Prew Savoy showed us how to construct a wooden table.

　　木雕大师普利沙威在示范时，露了一手制作木桌的好本领。

　　● 5. daring adj. showing bravery or a willingness to do sth. dangerous 大胆的；勇敢的

　　In a daring rescue attempt, the divers swam down into the flooded mine in order to save the trapped miners.

　　在一次英勇的救援行动中，潜水人员潜入淹水的矿坑，以救出受困的矿工。

　　6. overturn v. to put sth. into an upside down position 倾覆；翻覆

　　After the powerful earthquake, the city streets were full of fallen trees and overturned cars.

　　强震过后，该城市的街道到处都是倒下的树木及翻覆的车辆。

　　 More Information 仅供参考，不须强记

　　 1. stoked adj. 蓄势待发的；跃跃欲试的 （stoke 的动词本意为添加燃料，在此引申为万事俱备，准备行动之意）

　　 2. surfer n. 冲浪者 （动词 surf 为冲浪之意，surfboard 则是指冲浪板）

　　 3. paddle v. （用手或脚）划水前进

　　 4. king kahuna n. 个中高手；顶尖人员 （Kahuna 原为夏威夷神话中的冲浪之神；在英文中则以 king kahuna 来形容各个领域，如电脑、运动、政治、商业等相关事业的个中翘楚）

　　 5. power through v. phr. 奋力冲过